They Call it Puppy Love

Every morning my youngest daughter wakes me up. You know how some people are morning people, and wake up eager for the day to begin? That's my daughter. Other people welcome morning like a warden welcomes jailbreaks. That's me. Yet each morning she scampers in the room with unbridled enthusiasm. Always going to my side of the bed always saying the same thing:

"Let's be a puppy on the floor!"

Every morning, always the same, let's be a puppy on the floor. And every morning, generally against by better judgement, I crawl on the floor with her, barking and yipping. I am not sure how this ritual began, and often, I am unsure why I let it continue. There are only two reasons why I endure this perpetual puppy practice:

1) I don't think she enjoys anything in this world more than playing puppy with her Dad.

2) Some time in the not so distant future, she won't come in anymore. Our time as Daddy puppy and Baby puppy will be through. While I certainly won't miss the interruption of my sleep, I will certainly lament the ending of that season in our lives.

So until that day comes I will spend the first part of my day "ruffing it" with my daughter.

Next Time: It's not uncommon, it's not our problem.

NABLOPOMO Mid month update

This month I have taken the National Blog Posting Month challenge to blog everyday for a month. I planned today to give an detailed update of how my month so far has gone.

I was just told by my wife that she is taking me out for dinner in ten minutes and if I want to blog for day, do it now. So, update yes, detailed, not so much.

That is certainly a negative of everyday blogging: to have to rush yourself and to lack quality for the sake of quantity.

A positive is that blogging everyday has really stretched me in what topics to choose. Wednesday and Thursdays blogs may not have occurred, if I didn't have to produce a post each and every day. Amy has told me that those posts have been some of my best.

Well I am off to dinner with the love of my life.

Next Time: They Call it Puppy Love

Blah, Blah, Blago

My son thinks Rod Blagojevich was framed. He just cannot believe that the most powerful government head in our entire state would say he was innocent if he wasn't. That's my son, he's seven. Of course, by thinking that Blago is innocent he is definitely in the minority. The only other person I know of who thinks the former governor is innocent, is the former governor himself.

Blagojevich reminds me of Jack Nicholson's character from A Few Good Men. At the end of the movie after he admits to ordering the Code Red that killed Private Santiago, he cannot understand why he is being arrested. Even though he has just acknowledged culpability, he thinks that he is beyond the law. (Just as an aside, thanks to the Pepsi company, it is no longer an illegal action to order a Code Red. I rather enjoy them.)

This is exactly what Blagojevich is doing. He doesn't seem to dispute the facts of the case. He just doesn't think he did anything wrong. He points to all "the good" he did for the state, and thinks that selling a senate seat, like you might sell Cubs rooftop tickets, is just part of the job description.










The former governor also reminds me a lot of Nicholson's "A Few Good Men" costar, Tom Cruise. He definitely has the hair for it. I don't mean Tom Cruise, the actor. I mean Tom Cruise, the couch jumper. Because couch jumping is exactly what Blago has been doing lately. I mean they have actually had to create new talk shows for him to appear on. Network news for the past two weeks might as well have been called, Blagojevich and the weather.

The thing I like best about this entire debacle is that when Blagojevich was removed from office and then banned from holding any office in the state of Illinois, he was out jogging. The reason why I like this best, is that it capsulizes what he became: a running joke.

Next Time: NABLOPOMO, A mid-month report

My Music A-Z

Blog Insider - A look at the widgets, gadgets and whatnots of Home School Dad

Tonight's Episode: My Music A-Z

I am by most accounts a disorganized person. Many people have tried to get me organized, and they have all failed. Sad, really. It's not that I don't have developed storage systems. It's just that none of those storage systems ever get properly utilized. My brother says my organization motto is: a place for everything and everything on the floor.

There is one area in my life that is impeccably organized: my music. My 8-track collection, which gave way to my record (aka LP) collection, which gave way to my cassette and cd collection were/are all catalogued alphabetically or by genre.

I also have in the past established elaborate systems by which cd or which track I would play. So, it should come as no surprise that the music blog is subject to the same blend of order and chaos that I subject all my other music collections.

My music is brought to you by playlist.com. They are awesome. Each Sunday I switch the songs on my blog, generally in accordance to some mad scheme. One week, I had two songs for each artist I chose. Another time, all songs I chose were performed by 2 artists. This week, I went wild, even by my standards, and have 26 artists all beginning with different letters of the alphabet. All of the artists or songs do have a special meaning to me. Until I got to the x's. X-sinner is not really my cup of tea, but it's not like I had a lot to choose from. The music represents a kind of musical history of mine. Amy's message board friends say I look like Donny Osmond, so that explains that. Some songs like Steve Forbert's, "Romeo's Tune" or Rupert Holme's, "Escape" I haven't heard for years. But they were songs I really liked in the late 70's- early 80's when I was an AT40 geek. I was keeping my feet on the ground but I was definitely reaching for the stars.

Amy was a little surprised that I would choose a song like Escape, since it is about a man stuck in a bad relationship, itching to get out. And, that is so not me. That's not how I see the song though. I see it like an O'Henry short story set to music, with a little twist at the end that changes the whole song.

I hope you enjoy the music as you look through my blog. Some time soon: Christmas in February or March, cause ANYONE can do Christmas in July.

Next Time: Blah Blah Blago

For reluctant writers!

Guest poster, Amy Roller, aka my wife, takes a whack at Works-for-me Wednesday and the Carnival of Homeschooling for that matter. Amy is an experienced home school teacher and school psychologist

Is your child a reluctant writer? Do they have great ideas when speaking, then are barely able to write one sentence? I learned about this idea from Diane Craft (http://www.dianecraft.org/necraft.org/) at a homeschool convention a few years back. Other educators have called it "Brain Gym" (Paul Dennison.) Occupational therapists have used it, psychologists have used it, teachers and parents have used it.

The purpose of this activity is to transfer writing from the paper and pencil, physical activity, to the creative writing process. It helps the brain's two hemispheres to work together. The left side of the brain is where the beginning of learning new things lies, and then it is transfered to the right side when it is fully leared, and no longer in need of thought (i.e., driving a car, tying your shoes, etc.) We have seen a significant improvment in our childrens' writing skills, and I have seen improvements in the school setting as well.

I sat down with my daughter Emma to demonstrate this method for you. She has demonstrated it for me to general and special ed teachers at the school where I work:

The sideways 8 activity it works for me. If you click here, you will be sent to Rocks in my Dryer to see what works for others.

To see what other home school moms and dads are up to click here to go to the current carnival of home school being hosted this week by topsy-techie.

Thanks Amy

Next Time: My Music A to Z